All about improving your life and professional skills.

May 02, 2008

Pros & Cons Of Self Employment

I’ve had two jobs in the past 30 years. Neither lasted over three years.

The first was very glamorous and I was envied by all my male friends. In fact, because of that job I had “buddies” I didn’t know were buddies until they found out where I worked.

At the ripe young age of 24 I found myself managing the Los Angeles Playboy Club. The story behind that is kind of funny, but you may have to await the memoir to know more. Get your minds out of the gutter, it wasn’t like “that.”

While that job had an obvious allure, it was work that became largely thankless. Despite saving the corporation thousands of dollars on provision ordering and working long hours, national management could have cared less. Once the glamor wore off, the idea of being an entrepreneur really started to look good.

Then I had a grueling job that I created. I co-founded a nutritional company in Beverly Hills, California. Two of my partners (the money) took the CEO and presidency positions (money doesn’t talk, it screams) and I became Sr. VP of marketing. We did millions in sales. But still I was an employee for all practical purposes, serving at the whim of an unreasonable CEO.

I came to the conclusion that I was born to be an entrepreneur.

As I ventured into the world of self-employment, I found freedom, money, success and failure. Yup a lot of the latter too, especially in the beginning. (cont'd)

However, the economy never affected my income. Sure, some clients would retreat. American Airlines, during a spike in fuel prices, canceled all ancillary programs including mine. Bye Bye. But another client soon replaced them.

Over the years, I’ve found that mindset is everything. Today, if you watch the news long enough, you’ll be brainwashed about how bad the economy is. Even if that’s true, the effect on you will be dependent upon the effect you give it.

More millionaires were created during Great Depression than at any other time in history. The historical focus during those years is on the tragedy, which was awesome. Yet, there were those who saw opportunity, who looked beyond news of the day or public opinion. The first step to their success was within their own mindset.

Much of my training and coaching over the years has been with entrepreneurs, or those who want to become one. I’ve coached former senior corporate executives who were highly knowledgeable, experienced and personally powerful, yet some were lost in the world of self-employment.

Many of them overspent, because they were used to big corporate budgets where trial and error afforded mistakes, which could be learned from. The small business person doesn’t have that luxury.

Then I’ve worked with people who came from lower level jobs, one was a former chicken plucker, who rose up in their own businesses, creating admirable successes.

Failure is not a sign of failing, quitting is. In my book, “How To Take No For An Answer And Still Succeed,” the focus is on what happens during and after failure.

This is a great time to be an entrepreneur, no matter what the media tells you. By the way, turn that damn thing off. All they concentrate on is the negative. You ever think what they must be leaving out?

There is a jungle of opportunities. But, like with all jungles, caution needs to be taken.

I’ll be hosting a special informational webinar soon for entrepreneurs or those who want to be. Watch for the announcement as we’ll have a limited number of “seats.”

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